President Emmanuel Macron of France summoned a handful of European leaders to Paris for an emergency meeting on Monday (Feb. 17). The gathering was partly a reaction to top US officials heading to Saudi Arabia on Tuesday to initiate direct talks with Russia about its conflict in Ukraine. European leaders were also concerned President Donald Trump would negotiate a peace deal with Russia’s leader, Vladimir Putin, without including members of the European Union (EU). But are they really worried about Trump freezing them out, or was the last-minute get-together a performance to seem relevant?
Paris for Some but Not for All
The Paris summit was primarily an effort to bring “together all the partners interested in peace and security” to discuss “the situation in Ukraine and security issues in Europe,” said Macron’s office in a statement. Yet…
